Without a Trace
by ThreeBlindMice
Summary: Red, after his triumph over Blue and the joint Kantonese-Johtonese Elite Four, disappeared from the public eye to "train." He's been gone for years, and all hope had been lost that he'd ever return... that is, until a call comes in hinting at the whereabouts of the missing Champion. Gold agrees to investigate in the hopes that even a trace of the legendary Trainer remains. One-shot


**A/N: Another one-shot to help stretch my writing abilities in terms of Pokémon battles themselves, as I feel all of mine to be a bit lackluster. After scanning through potential ones that you guys might enjoy, I settled on the fight between Gold and Red atop Mt. Silver in G/S/C. I'll be utilizing Red's team from that Gen, although I'll be including Gold's Pokémon Adventures team in addition to taking into account all new mechanics and moves up until Generation VI. Never read the manga, so I'm just using whatever I find on Bulbapedia. Of course, like anything I write, it's going to have some plot to support it, however admittedly thin that plot is.**

**Also, I am fully aware that Delia Ketchum and Red hardly exist in the same universe, but I racked my brain for a name for the mom… and I just elected to choose Delia because of its familiarity . Please don't yell at me. :(**

**Anyways, enjoy my little practice session fic.**

Huffing from the long hike up to the peak of the infamous Mt. Silver, known both for its harsh conditions and extremely powerful wild Pokémon, a young black-haired Trainer with a yellow and black cap stopped to take a rest. Entrance to the mountain was heavily restricted, allowing only Trainers who had achieved Champion status within any region under legal means. It was for good reason, too, as many an overconfident person had become lost within the mountain's twisting labyrinth or the permanently massive blizzard that raged outside. Others had been torn to shreds by the shockingly strong Pokémon, unprepared completely for the challenge that the imposing landmark contained.

This boy, however, was an exception, or so he'd been told. Despite defeating the joint Kantonese-Johtonese Elite Four and attaining Champion status, he wouldn't have been allowed into Mt. Silver for his young age. However, Professor Oak had requested the League to give him permission for a special request in searching for someone who had been missing for over three years now. One of the original 'Dex collectors, Gold only knew him by his name, something that had been eternally recorded in the history books, noting that he was the youngest Trainer to achieve Champion status to date, with Gold missing the mark by nearly a year, as well as having collected and registered all 150 Pokémon native to the Kanto region, greatly increasing the world's knowledge of the wildlife within the area. His journey had sparked a widespread movement to continue this 'Dex registration around the world. Five more regions had quickly followed suit, collecting all necessary data in Red's example.

While Gold had been called exceptional by many, Red had become a legend among the various Leagues. However, the moment he had conquered the joint Kantonese-Johtonese Elite Four as well as the newly crowned Champion, Blue, who had also missed the youngest Champion mark by being just four months older than Red, he had disappeared completely from the public eye, leaving only a note saying that he had gone to "train."

No one had heard from him again. He had stopped calling his mother, had never reported back to Professor Oak, and Blue didn't have a clue where he might've decided to go after their final clash. The former Champion had scoured the whole of both Kanto and Johto, questioning anyone he came across about the whereabouts of his ex-rival to bring peace of mind to both Red's mother and the infamous Pokémon Professor. Despite his efforts, Blue never found even a trace that could hint as to Red's whereabouts.

At this point, both Delia and Oak had given up all hope of finding her son, simply praying that nothing terrible had befallen him and that he would return home in due time. The two's desperate hopes gradually faded as the years passed. Lance, concerned over the fact that Red was leaving a massive gap in the League by his absence as a Champion, took over for him to battle challengers, appointing Koga to replace him. Blue, after his journey in an attempt to find Red, took the Gym Leader position that had been left with the disappearance of Giovanni and the Rockets. Everything had settled down, and people had begun to forget about the fantastic Trainer who had seemed to vanish from existence.

That is, until the call came into Pallet Town.

A Unovan Trainer of Champion status had hiked into Mt. Silver that month, but had been driven back from the very peak by the fierce blizzard that was a constant presence. However, having risen to near that point, they had caught a glimpse of someone simply standing on the edge of a cliff in extremely light clothing. The Unovan Trainer, who had called himself Alder something-or-other, called out to the person, attempting to greet him and gain his assistance in going back down the harsh mountain. The figure hadn't responded, but in a moment of clarity within the storm, Alder had caught a quick glimpse of his clothing and stature. Of course, at the time, he had no clue just who he had met upon the peak of Mt. Silver, but upon returning, several of his friends urged him to make a house call to a hick town in the country, Pallet Town, to report this person who almost exactly matched the description of the missing joint Kantonese-Johtonese Pokémon League Champion.

Professor Oak leapt into action, calling upon the aid of anyone within Kanto that could be admitted access into Mt. Silver to begin a search, but both Blue and Lance were preoccupied with their duties as a Gym Leader and Champion respectively and couldn't dedicate both the month to acclimating themselves to the thin air of the peak as well as the full two weeks surrounding the Summer Solstice in which the heavy blizzard atop Mt. Silver partially subsided to go looking for a person who hadn't been sighted in a full three years and could've easily been a mirage brought on by a lack of oxygen.

That left only Gold as the last Trainer within Kanto-Johto to have achieved Champion status. Despite his young age, the League allowed him to enter partially due to his remarkable success as a Trainer as well because of Professor Oak's recommendation. Always up for a challenge, the boy had immediately accepted, eager to get going on another journey.

So, for the next month, he had trained, becoming accustomed to the harshly thin atmosphere that a mountain hosted, becoming fitter than he had ever been along with his Pokémon. The whole time, he reflected upon what it would be like to meet the living legend, Red. Stronger than any Trainer in the region, having defeated all the Kanto Gym Leaders along with both Blue and the Elite Four, Red seemed almost god-like to many. He was indestructible, having never lost a battle. Despite the fact that Gold couldn't claim the last portion, he had defeated both the Johto and Kanto Gym Leaders along with their joint Elite Four, although it was woefully incomplete without Red as the crowning jewel. It gave him the shivers just thinking about standing in the presence of such a powerful Trainer, one he could measure himself against.

And so, when the two weeks surrounding the Summer Solstice began, the black-haired Trainer began his excursion into the intimidatingly lengthy Mt. Silver. His team and he had encountered many obstacles along the way, such as unexpected rock falls blocking normally used paths and wild Pokémon attacking in packs that numbered dozens. However, their training was certainly not for naught, as his team was certainly prepared for the native wildlife and the unexpected blockages, not to mention that he had more than enough supplies with him to last them if they were to become trapped.

Finally, after having set up camp just inside the exit of the labyrinth within Mt. Silver, he had reached the peak, immediately noticing that the blizzard, while it had supposedly lessened, still chilled to the bone. Glancing up towards the end of a small path, Gold rose from his seat atop a boulder after having unsuccessfully attempted to warm himself. Towards the edge of a cliff stood a very lightly dressed figure that was facing away from him. As the boy got closer, he released his partner Typhlosion, partly to light the area and partly to warm his frozen joints, but the new illumination presented a startling sight.

Noticing his presence, the figure turned, his features obscured by the light flurry, adjusting his red and white cap and fingering the Poké Balls on his belt in alarm. Gold immediately stopped moving forward, making placating gestures towards the unfamiliar Trainer who matched the description he had received of Red's appearance shockingly well.

"I don't mean any harm," the black-haired boy croaked, having barely used his voice in the last few days. Clearing his throat, Gold tried again. "Sorry, I meant that I don't want to hurt you. I'm just looking for someone." Ruffling through his pack hastily, the Champion Trainer turned back towards the mysterious figure, raising the photo of Red that he had received from his mother. "Have you seen this person? His name's Red, and he… are you alright, sir?"

The person who heavily resembled Red, despite the fact that the snowstorm was still obscuring his facial features, took a step back the moment he saw the picture, almost seeming repelled by the sight of the Champion. Grabbing a Poké Ball from his waist, he released one of the six attached to his belt. With a bright flash of light, a small, but compact looking, Pikachu growled at Gold's Typhlosion, who had, at this point, taken a defensive stance in front of his beloved Trainer. Gold shouted above both the storm and the feral noises that both Pokémon were making, alarmed at where this simple conversation was going.

'Sweet Arceus, I told him I didn't want to do anything to him, didn't I?' he thought before turning back to the instigator of the upcoming battle. "What are you _doing?"_ he yelled, his voice rather hoarse from the lack of usage. "I just asked you if you knew where this guy might be! How is that any sort of provocation?" Thrusting the picture forward, Gold scowled. "Just answer the question and neither of us have to get hurt, okay? Have you seen a Trainer by the name of Red-"

At the sound of the Champion's name, the stranger cowered, raising his hands in a defensive act of helplessness, as if trying to halt the very sound uttered by his opponent. Immediately, the Pikachu leapt towards Gold's Typhlosion, its cheeks crackling with the electric power signature to its kind. Releasing a lightning bolt towards its enemy, it cried out in what can only be described as pure anguish.

While the Typhlosion had little time to dodge, dodge it did, yipping in surprise at the swift attack delivered by the deceivingly small rodent. Its opponent, however, gave little time for the fiery badger-like Pokémon to recover, leaping after it, its body surrounded by an aura of electricity that flared uncontrollably. Gold simply stood there, paralyzed, as he watched his precious starter Pokémon get pulverized. Finally finding a reprieve in the Pikachu's assault, the injured Typhlosion swiftly turned and fired a blast of flame at its opponent, who, having been rushing towards the Fire type with wild abandon, took the attack head-on without stopping. Colliding once more with Gold's Typhlosion, the yellow electric mouse sent his significantly larger enemy flying into the snow, which immediately melted from the pure heat that emanated from the badger-like Pokémon.

Realizing that this battle wasn't going to end well if he didn't intervene, Gold shook himself free from his indecision. "Typhlosion, Mega-Evolve!" he shouted, raising his wrist and Mega-Stone above his head, feeling the release of its energy.

In an explosion of red, the Fire type Mega-Evolved, clearing the snow around him for nearly ten feet. Massive amounts of smoke flowed from his back, tinging the air black. Fire spurted forth from every major joint, coloring the sky as he screeched in triumph, knowing that this extra strength could only result in his victory. His fur significantly longer, even covering a small portion of his eyes, was also tinged black, much like the smoke released from his backside.

"Typhlosion," Gold breathed out, relieved that the Mega-Evolution had worked this time. "Use Heat Wave and knock out that Pikachu!"

With another shriek, the badger-like Pokémon opened his maw, his flames reaching even higher heights, and summoned a massive wave of fire that was sent towards his mesmerized opponent, who took the attack without so much as a squeak and then fell onto a nearby rock, knocked out cold. Red light surrounded it, sending the powerful Pokémon back into the strange Trainer's ball. However, before Gold could attempt to speak with him again, he tossed forth another.

In a brief, but bright, flash of light similar to the Pikachu's, blinding both the Typhlosion and his Trainer, a Blastoise was released, who roared in fury upon his entrance onto the freezing mountain peak, glaring daggers at his opponent. Instantly, it was surrounded by a blinding blue ball of energy, signaling that it was Mega-Evolving. Gold, now very alarmed by the violent turn of events, turned back to his rather dazed partner.

"Typhlosion," he hissed. "Set up a Sunny Day to add to the heat!"

Heeding his Trainer's command, the badger Pokémon growled, the fire and smoke surrounding its body flaring up as the sun was called forth, expelling, at least temporarily, the blizzard that had previously blinded all of them. Peering at the other Trainer, he was disappointed to find that the instigator of the battle had shielded his face once more with his cap, showing his mousy brown hair.

'That guy hasn't said anything this whole time, but he looks so much like Red… he's even wearing red, what with his cap and jacket. Not to mention that Pikachu was that guy's original partner…' bringing himself back to the moment, Gold was greeted by a significantly tougher looking Blastoise staring intensely at his exhausted Typhlosion, who was breathing heavily from the effort exerted in summoning such immense heat. Weather-inducement was certainly not a strength of his, and the extra altitude only made things more difficult. "Typhlosion, slam it with a Solarbeam! Take it out in one blow!" he commanded, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

Not wasting any time, the badger-like Pokémon complied, absorbing the sun's energy and spewing it forth from him in a bright green beam at the Water type across from him, who, unable to dodge if only because of his massive weight, took the attack head on, grimacing from the agony that a Grass type attack of that magnitude was inflicting. However, it soon recovered, sending blasts of water from its massive cannons towards its rather tired opponent. Prancing left, right, and center, the Typhlosion barely dodged the pulses of liquid sent shooting forth by the Mega-Evolved Blastoise, who was giving him no chance to gather energy for another shot. Faking out the badger-like Pokémon with a wild blast, he managed to nail it directly in the chest with a particularly swift shot, sending the Fire type reeling into the now uncovered rocks, completely off-balance. Not wasting any time at all, the shelled Pokémon barraged his opponent with a variety of attacks, ranging from Dragon Pulses to Ice Beams, sending absolutely everything it had into knocking out the tough enemy.

When the dust, kicked up by the massive mix of attacks, cleared, Gold's Typhlosion wasn't moving. Satisfied with his victory, the stranger's Blastoise roared in triumph, his vicious scream of victory ringing through the whole of the peak.

Furious, Gold recalled his partner. "You're gonna pay for that," he growled, reaching for his belt. "Go, Sunflora! Avenge our partner with your strongest Solarbeam!"

With a similarly bright flash of light as to both the previous Pokémon's, a small sunflower-like Pokémon appeared, huffing as it scowled at the opposing Blastoise, who grinned fiercely in response. Raising its head towards the sun, the Sunflora gathered energy quickly and efficiently, preparing to annihilate the opposition with one attack. The opposition in questioned hissed, raising its cannons and firing shot after shot. However, its attacks came too late. Having gathered enough power, the small and unassuming flower-like Pokémon let loose a beam, which, while similar to Typhlosion's, was significantly stronger. Piercing the incoming attacks and dissipating them with its power, the Solarbeam slammed into its target, causing its eyes to spread wide and for it to shriek in pain as it was sent flying a good twenty feet. The Sunflora, having defeated a foe significantly larger than her, grinned back at Gold, her pleasure evident.

Recalling the fainted Blastoise, the stranger bearing an uncanny resemblance to Red immediately sent out another of his Pokémon, this one resembling a fiery dragon. The Charizard landed, glaring at the Sunflora in challenge as it was consumed in a bright red ball of energy, causing Gold's eyes to widen in utter shock.

'That's… no, that's impossible! No one can Mega-Evolve too Pokémon in the same battle! Professor Sycamore proved that the energy output… no, he said that no normal Trainer could ever achieve such a thing. That's it,' he decided, once more wiping the sweat from his face. 'He's got to be Red. No one but him could ever pull off such a feat…' straightening, Gold stared directly at his opponent, who continued to conceal his face with his cap. "Look," he began. "I know who you are, Red-"

Once again, the mysterious Trainer seemed to flinch at the mention of that name, putting his hands in front of him as the Charizard's Mega-Evolution completed itself, sending a blast of air in all directions. Sunflora seemed to wilt underneath the gaze of the majestic looking fiery dragon, who snorted, sending blue flames up into the air as he spread his legs and wings, preparing for flight.

"Sunflora!" Gold shouted, his attention drawn back to the battle at hand. "Before it takes off, hit it with Earth Power!"

The Sunflora, heavily intimidated by the massive Pokémon before her, could do nothing but whimper as it took off, cracking the earth beneath it, and sent blast after blast of flame at the flower. Crying in pain after the first hit dead-on, the Grass type took off, using the sun to its advantage in bolstering its speed. The Charizard scowled, its massive body now rather heavy for flight. Gathering itself into one mass, it took off after the Sunflora, blue fire surrounding its form. While his quarry was fast, even faster underneath the now fading sun, it was still caught easily by the dragon-like Pokémon, who flattened it with a Flare Blitz. Gold, who had watched this apprehensively, immediately switched out his Sunflora on the point of impact, sending out a Sudowoodo in her place. Rushing towards its opponent eagerly, the deceivingly tree-like Pokémon struck the heated ground, still warm from the near vanished sunlight, sending waves of rock towards the Mega-Evolved Charizard. Still recovering from his massive charge, it took a moment for the beast to realize that it was being attacked. The moment it did, however, it leapt from the earth, taking to the skies to avoid the Sudowoodo's antics. Noticing this, the Rock type turned to Gold, unsure of what to do.

Gold, still wracking his brain for some way out of this, shouted what first came to mind. "Sudowoodo, keep attacking with Stone Edge," he commanded, unsure of his decision. "Keep the pressure on it!"

Nodding in confirmation, the tree-like Pokémon continued his assault, sending wave after wave of boulders at the Charizard, who flitted past nearly every single one, its agility surprising in comparison to its size. A single, particularly wild and fast moving, rock shot into the fiery dragon, clipping its wings and sending it crashing down into the newly laid snow from the returning storm. The Sudowoodo, realizing that it was the opportune moment to hit with all it had, struck the ground with is rock-like branches, kicking up a ridiculous amount of dust while barraging the now downed flier. Boulder after boulder was sent at the monstrous Pokémon, slamming into it with enough force to shake the very earth. Huffing from the effort, the Rock type stopped his assault and took a step back, attempting to gauge his opponent's condition from within the dust cloud.

Without warning, the ground actually _did_ begin to shake, hurting the Sudowoodo terribly and sending it crashing into the dirt, so off-balanced it was. Bursting forth from the massive grouping of dust, a furious Charizard flew straight at his assailant, claws outstretched. Grabbing the head of his now hated enemy, the beast slammed it again, and again, and again into the ground it had previously stood upon. Gold watched in horror as his beloved partner suffered extreme damage at the hands of the enraged monster of a Pokémon. When the beast was satisfied, he threw the Rock type towards his Trainer, roaring towards the now dark sky, clouded over with the return of the storm. Drunk on its victory, the fiery dragon began to spew blue fire in all directions, slamming the earth with its powerful legs.

Gold returned his broken Sudowoodo, clutching the Poké Ball to his chest. 'If he's permanently injured because of that Charizard…' he thought ominously to himself. Shaking his head violently, Gold threw another ball onto the field. In a brief flash of light, a furious looking Togekiss emerged, hissing in challenge at the celebrating Charizard. The Fire and Dragon type halted in its mocking dance, and turned to face the already in-flight Pokémon. Snorting derisively, releasing blue flames in a small burst of fire, the beast followed suit, racing through the now heavy storm to find its new prey.

Without a warning, the Togekiss shot forward, its speed impossible to follow with the naked eye, and crashed into the stomach of its ally's opponent, sending it soaring back down to the powdered earth, its eyes wide with surprise. Upon its heavy impact with the ground, the strange Trainer quickly recalled the badly mangled Charizard, sending out in its stead an apathetic looking Venasaur, who gazed at the high-flying Togekiss with disinterest before being consumed, similar to its partners, in a green ball of energy, signaling his Mega-Evolution.

"Togekiss!" Gold shouted, eyes blazing. "Waste no time! Air Slash that Venasaur before it fully transforms!"

Togekiss complied with please, sending two separate Air Slashes in the massive Grass and Poison type's direction, her aim admittedly inhibited by the powerful winds of the blizzard. The two attacks collided with the green sphere of energy, which burst forth with a blast of air, sending nearby snowdrifts flying. The Venasaur, now covered from head to toe with massive flora, was unmarked by the Fairy and Flying type's attack, although it looked significantly angrier. With swiftness that surprised Gold, it launched consecutive Sludge Bombs at its assailant, attempting to scare it away. The Togekiss, hissing once more at her opponent, flitted between the Poison type attacks, dodging with relative ease as she continued to send Air Slashes in an attempt to wear down the behemoth of a Pokémon.

The two continued this dance, with the Togekiss' Air Slashes missing due to the fierce blizzard and the Venasaur's Sludge Bombs being unable to hit their target because of their inherent spread and lack of real range. With a cry of frustration, the tiring flier dive-bombed her opponent, hitting it full on in a similar way to the Charizard. However, unlike the Charizard, the Venasaur didn't budge, and used this opportunity to badly injure the Togekiss with Sludge Bomb after Sludge Bomb. Unable to rise due to the barrage, she desperately responded with her own Air Slashes. Gold tensed watching this display of endurance. Both sides were wearing down quickly, but he knew that his own Pokémon couldn't take much more before breaking. Upon completing that thought, the Fairy and Flying type Pokémon barely dodged a close attack from her opponent. With that small opportunity, she escaped from the deadly situation, screeching in triumph as she continued to slam the monster of a Pokémon, who was now helpless to respond, so fierce were her attacks.

With one last cry of agony, the previously apathetic Grass and Poison type collapsed on itself. After only a moment's hesitation, the strange Trainer recalled his badly injured Pokémon. Togekiss flew circles in the sky, screaming to the sky of her victory. Gold grinned at her obvious pleasure.

'Looks like I've got this battle,' he thought to himself rather smugly. 'Whether this guy is Red or not, I've got him beat.' Bringing himself back to the situation at hand, he frowned at the petit and pink form of an Espeon that had taken the field, its eyes boring into him with an alarming intensity.

'_It's been so long since we've been in contact with another human,'_ a voice muttered in Gold's head, causing him to start in surprise. '_I see. You've never spoken with a Psychic before.'_ The voice seemed to sigh in disappointment. '_Never mind, then. I shall take my leave… if only you had come for him sooner…'_

'W-who are you?!' Gold thought, clutching his head, a small ache beginning to form behind his forehead. 'Was… was the Espeon speaking to me? Oh, never mind that! I have to stay focused, or… wait, what?'

Before him lay the exhausted form of his Togekiss, its eyes glazed over from a strong Psychic assault by the Espeon that had been speaking to him only moments before. Fury filled Gold as he recalled the Fairy and Flying type, and he glared at the culprit before releasing a small green and yellow toad, who croaked in concern for his Trainer upon release.

"I'm fine, Politoed. Focus on the Espeon," he assured through gritted teeth, fists clenched. He was clearly not "fine," as he had stated, but the Politoed followed his orders. The best thing to do to assuage his black-haired Trainer, as he had discovered, was simply to follow his commands to the best of your ability. "Take it out with a Hydro Pump!"

The massive amount of water spewed forth by the pure Water type almost shocked his opponent into inaction, but the Psychic type knew better. Strong as the move was, Espeon was easily able to scamper out of the way, shooting a ball full of ectoplasm at her opponent as cover. The Politoed, notable less agile than his opponent, only barely dodged the surprisingly powerful Shadow Ball before being shocked with a subsequent Psychic sent only moments afterwards. Stumbling backwards, dazed from the attack, it wildly shot out beams of ice in a desperate attempt to stay his opponent. The inaccurate nature of these attacks caused them to, understandably, miss their target completely. The Psychic type responded with another mental shock, taking the opportunity to decisively win the fight.

Gold blinked as his Politoed fell without inflicting a lick of damage against the Espeon. Recalling him, he threw forward his final Pokémon. Bursting forth from his ball, a flash of light signaling his emergence, the Ambipom leapt forward, hopping from foot to foot impatiently, waiting for some sort of command by his Trainer. Grinning at the hyper-active nature of his Pokémon, the young Champion gave his monkey-like partner a thumbs-up.

"Get close with a Fake Out, Ambipom, and then proceed to Double Hit the Epseon!" he shouted, the smile still splayed across his features.

Instantly, the Ambipom vanished from view, reappearing in front of the Psychic type after having slapped it across the face with the stronger of its two tails, sending the Espeon staggering backwards in a daze. Without giving his opponent time to recover, the monkey-like Pokémon initiated his Double Hit, barraging the helpless Espeon with all five of his potential hits, each boosted by Technician. With one final heave of the Normal type, the Psychic type was sent flying back towards the mysterious Trainer that Gold was almost certain was Red. Without wasting time, the Trainer recalled his knocked out Pokémon, simultaneously releasing the final one on his team.

With a crash, the massive beast known as Snorlax slammed into the snow, sending the surrounding snow drifts all over the place from the shockwave. Ambipom, normally so sure of its footing, fell over from its landing, so powerful was the weight of his opponent.

"H-holy _shit!_" Gold screamed, eyes wide in surprise. "How was that thing ever contained in a Poké Ball!?" His Ambipom's unease only added to this.

The monster of a Pokémon roared in response, beating its massive stomach with paws that were heavily overlaid with a mixture of muscle and fat. Glancing down, it searched the area for whoever it was supposed to fight, unable to find its opponent due to his admittedly small size. The monkey-like Pokémon, however, only stared at his Trainer, entirely uncertain at exactly what it was that he had to do.

An idea surged to the forefront of Gold's mind. "Ambipom!" he shouted, attempting to yell over the fierce noise of the snow storm surrounding them. "Begin with several Low Kicks, using his weight against him! When he's down, try to Brick Break and Double Hit the head, if only because it looks like the most vulnerable portion of his body!" Despite the utter freezing temperature, Gold couldn't help but feel galvanized by the battle. He had never been so close to both victory and defeat at once, and with someone who might just be a living legend. He breathed into his hands, attempting to warm his body up to the measure of his currently flaming soul.

Gold's Ambipom, confident in his Trainer's competence, followed his commands without question. Utilizing the Snorlax's inability to see him, he rushed forward towards the massive Normal type's left leg, sliding on the earth as he got closer and swinging his glowing foot. Both the leg and foot connected solidly, sending the sturdy leg off the ground and the Snorlax crashing into the snow on its left side, arms splayed to catch itself. Not sparing a moment, the significantly smaller Normal-type rushed to the other leg and repeated his actions, sending the beast of a Pokémon sprawling face-first. With grace that any acrobat would envy, the Ambipom leapt upon the back of the beast, streaking along it towards hits ultimate target; the Snorlax's head. Screeching in fury, the monkey-like Pokémon jumped up, and, using the momentum of his fall, slammed the back of the monster of a Pokémon's head with twin Brick Breaks from his tails.

The Snorlax shrieked in agony, rolling itself on its side and sending the unprepared perpetrator of its pain onto the hard ground, where he hit his head with a loud crack. The massive beast, now aware of its opponent, lumbered over to the recovering Ambipom, who was wholly unprepared for the massive backhand he received, sending him flying into a nearby snowdrift and releasing a heart-wrenching cry of hurt to his Trainer.

"Ambipom!" the desperate Trainer cried out, his voice cracking. "You have to get up! His movements are sluggish, and if you can just get ahold of yourself, he'll be easy to dodge! C'mon!"

If the monkey-like Pokémon heard his Trainer, he gave no indication. Slowly, but surely, the Snorlax approached the drift that held its quarry, raising its massive paw for one final blow. Bringing it down with a satisfying thud, the powerful punch imbedded itself into the drift. Much to the unpleasant surprise of the beast of a Pokémon, from the drift burst forth Gold's Ambipom, its entire body bruised heavily. Leaping from the ground, it attached itself to the massive Normal type's arm as the Snorlax attempted to shake him off. After nearly a full minute of shaking its right arm in an attempt to rid itself of the pest that had latched onto it, the Snorlax seemed to tire. It stopped to check if the monkey-like Pokémon had fallen off, yet. Taking this opportunity, the still attached Ambipom let go of its arm and grabbed ahold of its face once more, slamming it with back to back Brick Breaks.

Moaning from the assault, the monster attempted to scrape him off of its face, but its arms were neither long enough nor dexterous enough to stop the barrage that was tearing it to pieces. With one final groan of agony, the beast fell on its back, unconscious from the efforts of his now absolutely exhausted and badly injured opponent. Grinning at his Trainer, the Ambipom disappeared in the red light signaling the activation of a Poké Ball.

Pocketing his partner's ball, Gold turned to face the instigator of this whole fight.

The stranger had gone from a near forty or fifty feet away to right in front of Gold, his face totally unobscured.

Gold blinked, his gaze utterly absorbed by this stranger's glowing red eyes, filled to the brim with tears. The opposing Trainer stepped forward, enveloping his counterpart in what must've been the coldest hug that Gold had ever felt to date. His body trembled, nearly all heat drained instantly.

"_**Red…"**_ the Trainer whispered in a small sob, his face wettened. _"Thank you, thank you, thank you, my name is __**Red**__, my __**name**_ _is Red, thank you, thank you…"_

With a particularly fierce flurry of snow, Red disappeared, his presence and weight lifted from Gold's extremely tensed body. Warmth immediately flooded back into him as he looked all over the now deserted peak of Mt. Silver, all remnants of the previous battle and the missing Champion erased from his sight. Just as the warmth had entered back into him, so did a sense of certainty as to the events that had just occurred. Walking back towards the entrance to his camp, Gold pulled out his phone. Just one bar showed on the cracked surface, something that had happened on his hike up.

Just barely enough to make a call.

Gold dialed the number quickly, or as quickly as he could with his numbed fingers. Cursing when he made a mistake, the awed Trainer dialed three more times before he was able to get it right, at which point he was just in front of his campsite. It rang only once before the infamous Pokémon Professor Samuel Oak answered.

"Hey, Professor… yeah, who knew we'd have coverage at the top of Mt. Silver?" Gold laughed, beginning the call with a joke. His smile quickly faded. "No, Professor… no, I didn't find him. He wasn't here… yeah, I was disappointed as well. I'm coming back down the mountain. It's too dangerous to stay here much longer… yes… yes, I understand. See you soon."

Closing the cell phone, he called out his Typhlosion to assist him in making a fire within his crudely crafted fireplace, desperately hoping that his wounds weren't too terrible. Surprise flooded his features upon his partner's release, but it was quickly replaced by a look of utter understanding and a soft smile.

His Pokémon was completely unharmed.

**A/N: And that's it! If you enjoyed, please feel free to review or favorite this one-shot! At the very least, please critique the battle scene. I would love some feedback in that area… but man, I wrote this all in one shot. If you guys couldn't tell, I began to lose my steam at the end there…**


End file.
